General Practitioner Services

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 8 September 2022

Thursday, 8 September 2022

Ceisteanna (1525)

Catherine Murphy

Ceist:

1525. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Health the number of general practitioners allocated to children and infants following a refusal of three general practitioners to register them by CHO area in each of the years 2020 and 2021 and to date in 2022; if he will provide an additional schedule in respect of the same information for persons aged 18 years and over in tabular form; if he will detail the protocol for assigning an adult with a general practitioner who cannot source one themselves; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42105/22]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Health

GPs are self-employed practitioners and therefore may establish practices at a place of their own choosing. Under the GMS scheme, the HSE contracts GPs to provide medical services without charge to medical card and GP visit card holders.

Where a GMS patient experiences difficulty in finding a GP to accept him/her as a patient, the person concerned having unsuccessfully applied to at least three GPs in the area can apply to the HSE National Medical Card Unit which has the power to assign that person to a GP's GMS patient list.

People who do not hold a medical card or GP visit card access GP services on a private basis, in which the Minister for Health has no role, and can make enquiries directly to any GP practice they wish to register with. As private contractors, it is a matter for each individual GP to decide whether to accept additional private patients.

In relation to the number of GPs allocated and the protocols for assigning patients to GPs, as these are service matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.